Who wants to be a millionaire?

2008/08/14 by

Maricopa County ranks third in the nation for the highest number of millionaire residents according to a recent leading market research provider. An estimated 126,394 millionaires currently reside in the Phoenix metro area.

Los Angeles County and Cook County (Chicago) rank #1 & #2. Hard to believe we have more millionaires living in Maricopa County than there are in New York City’s Nassau County (ranked #9) and the Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara County (ranked #8).

About half of the Valley’s rich and mostly not-so-famous are retired with a median age of 66. Based on the most recent $1,000,000+ home sales, it’s pretty obvious that many of the newest millionaire residents are actually retirees who are probably selling their homes in California and other areas that have been hard-hit by the real estate downturn and are taking advantage of grabbing up a bargain priced multi-million dollar mansion in the Valley of the Sun.

Interesting to note that the lifestyle that a $1 million dollars bought in 1980 costs more than $2.5 million dollars today.

Why do Millionaires like the Valley? Besides the obvious…weather, the Valley is home to 7 top Fortune 1000 companies. Yes the Valley loves entrepreneurs.

Phoenix area millionaires typically lack the pretense of millionaires living in other large cities (it’s hard to believe we are the nation’s 5th largest city) and like to remain pretty invisible…except for the palacial homes they live in, of course.